StarCraft II Round-up: Your Launch Day Guide!

July 27, 2010. Hordes upon throngs upon crowds upon oodles upon gobs of people have been waiting for this day, and we’re not just talking about Trainz Simulator’s incredibly devoted contingent of hardcore coal-shovelers. “Hell, it’s about time,” you probably said aloud to yourself as you slipped out of bed this morning. And yeah, it was cheesy and lame, but you don't care, because you'ew mere seconds, minutes, or hours away from finally playing StarCraft II.

Are you ready, though? Like, really actually ready? It’s been 12 long years since StarCraft first came out, after all. You’re probably so rusty that you’ve officially been declared the world’s first walking tetanus hazard. If only you had some sort of guide – some kind of Internet roadmap that’d put you back on the right track to StarCraft mastery.

Hey, look over there! Just beyond that break. Is that…? It is! Lucky day, huh?

Story Recap: StarCraft and Brood War in Three Minutes – “Hello there, crazy tentacle-haired lady. Oh boy, this is awkward. I’m absolutely certain we’ve met before, but – darn it all! – I can’t remember your name or how exactly you became a horrific alien abomination! Goodness, I swear this is always happening to me. So, you say you’re a queen of some sort? Hey, what are you doing there with those blade-like appendag—OH GOD WHY.” StarCraft II Collector’s Edition Unboxing – Collector’s Editions are expensive. Is this one really worth the 100 smackeroos? We’ll let you decide for yourself using this handy hands-on. Here’s a hint, though: “Holy crap yes. Look at all that stuff. If you don’t buy it, we’ll slap you.” Is that too subtle? StarCraft II Unit Guide – If you knew StarCraft like the back of your hand, then StarCraft II is like looking at your hand and realizing that it’s mutated into some kind of terrifying – yet, objectively speaking, potentially useful – crab claw about twice the size of ol’ righty during his non-monstrous days. Which is to say: It’s new! It’s different! It’s scary! Take some of the edge off with this guide.

Blizzard U-Turns on Real ID, Confirms It Won’t be Implemented – For a little while there, it looked like we were in for an actual future even darker than the fictional one StarCraft portrays. A future in which our real names would be available to every nutjob with an Internet connection and a copy of an excessively popular videogame. Fortunately, after some of those nutjobs sicked their Internet connections on Blizzard, the developer saw the error of its ways.

Battle.net Overview – Remember Battle.net? Of course you do! Ah, the fond memories, the good old days. Ok, now forget them. Blizzard recently took a hammer to its online service’s very foundations and then rebuilt it from the ground-up. Find out what changed here.

Blizzard: No professional LAN Version of StarCraft II, But… -- "We will be addressing StarCraft II tournament functionality in a post launch patch to the game, soon after ship. This patch will include features to address the needs of location-based pro tournaments, but we have not discussed any specifics about tournament support beyond that."

StarCraft II Becomes Trilogy, Could be “Several Years” Before It’s Completed – A StarCraft II trilogy? An entire game for each race? Madness! Potentially expensive madness! But hey, when it’s all said and done, we’ll have a whopping 90 new campaign missions in one of PC gaming’s most storied franchises. Will it take a few extra ticks? Sure. But after 12 long-white-beard-growingly lengthy years of waiting, “several” more sounds like something that, well, we would scoff at in an article like this and then later complain about when we actually have to endure the wait.

StarCraft II Will Allow Players to Charge for Custom Maps – So you’ve made your first StarCraft II map. It’s an absolutely immaculate approximation of Rick Astley’s face surrounded by barren wastelands. It took you ten whole minutes to make, most of which were spent furiously blowing on the Hot Pocket you were scarfing at the time. Congratulations! Maybe your parents will hang it on the refrigerator, because StarCraft II’s marketplace functionality certainly isn’t for you. Instead, it’s aimed at amateur development teams who are hoping to break onto the scene in the same way, say, the team behind tower defense pioneer Defense of the Ancients did it back in the WarCraft III days.

StarCraft II Not Region-Locked in Australia – Good news, right? Well, kinda. See, here's the thing: in order to play against people outside of your region – if you’re not reading this on a PC hand-carved from the bones of kangaroos you boxed into submission in Australia – you have to buy another copy of StarCraft II and create a new Battle.net account for another region. So yeah, outside of Australia, the game’s region-free, except, you know, without the “free” part. If you have buddies you'd like to tussle with in, say, the UK, prepare to shell out.

Can't even pick the map you want to play if you like to do co-op against the computer.

Can't alt-tab out to check your email, if for some reason the game minimises (like some other app pops up a window) you drop out of the online game (which shouldn't even be online for 2 machines in the same room) and have to end task.

I was hoping for a real game here, but frankly think I might prefer Supreme Commander 2 (and I don't like that much compared to SC:FA).

Shame really, was really looking forward to the mother of all RTS games blowing the competition away.

Getting your SC2 key online and using the downloaded installer is fine. I got a boxed version of the $60 game to see if there was anything worth while in the box (besides the KEY!). Well, there is a pad of 4" by 6" notepaper with Raynor's wanted poster lightly scribed, and 2 10 day guest passes for SC2 and WOW (4 alltogether), a disk, and a 24 page booklet that has one page for troubleshooting, 4 pages of license stuff, the rest a comic book storyline of SC2 (without the pictures, mind). So all in all, NOT WORTH THE DRIVE TO BUY THE BOX.

As for the collectors, I have been burned with this for World of Warcraft. Yeah, looks so good when you open the box, but the art book is a once through, so is the making of game. music? err, play the game. USB drive with SC? Who would want to run a game from a USB 2.0 drive? Any of this worth $40? Answer me after you have had the game for a couple of weeks.

3.1/3rd of a game. I don't care how long any individual campaign is, there aren't campaigns for all three races.

4.Charging for maps. This is a bad idea for so many reasons not the least of which is the potential for fraudulent activity but this is only going to end up fragmenting the community as you find that you cannot join a game due to not having bought the appropriate map.

5.Region-locked which means I can't play with my overseas friends. Of course, I could work around this by playing over Hamchi except that the game doesn't have LAN support.

Ah, the internet is never short on narrow minded trolls. I continue to see the same BS arguments when it comes to this game.

The $60 price tag is standard for games these days. Personally I think its a lot to pay for a game, but I rarely buy games on launch day.

No lan support. People are beating this one into the ground. Blizzard isn't the only company using an internet connection as a form of piracy control. You can complain all you want but this is the way of the future.

1/3rd of a game... give me a break. How many games were released as trilogies? How about movies? Did you complain because you had to pay 3 times to see lord of the rings? No, you got 3 full length movies. You will get 3 full length games. 1 epic story. You still get 3 playable races in this game. You just don't get 3 campaigns. People act like blizzard created a run of the mill game and then broke it up into pieces. That isnt the case. You are getting a full fledged full length fully functional game.

Charging for maps isn't even implemented yet. Personally I don't have a problem with people that put in hard work getting a few bucks in return. It amazes me that people release such detailed mods and don't make a penny off of them. I say kudos to blizzard for helping the modding community support itsself. I am sure most mods and maps will remain free. You don't have to play on a pay map if you don't want to. And I am sure people aren't going to use a pay map unless its good enough to warrant it.

region locks. I don't support. I think you should be able to play with who you want where you want. gg is universal.

Giving money to activision. I'm all for brand loyalty. I haven't personally had any problem with activision, but to each his own.

If you are going to hate this game, hate it for its one true fault. Don't hate if for doing the same things that every other game these days does. Hate it because its nothing more than an ever so slightly graphically updated version of the original game with a few new units and some more story line. After 12 years I expected something revolutionary, instead I got more of the same. I'll probably buy the game, but I'll wait for the price to come down a little. I've never been much for buying new releases.

1. $60 pricetag for what is probably the most anticipated game in the past 5 years... same cost as what they charged for MW2, which sold more copies than any game in history.

2. No LAN Support... but it is coming and Blizzard usually keeps their promises.

3. 1/3 of a game....No, it is a whole game, but there are two more parts coming - YAY!.

4. Charging for maps... see MW2. They aren't having any problem charging for maps. Blizzard is a business, and Starcraft II will be their biggest seller since WoW, and they can monetize it however they want. People WILL buy them.

5. Region-locked which means I can't play with my overseas friends.... OR, it means you don't get stuck playing with people who have a ping of 35,000ms because they are playing on a @#$ing modem in Cambodia. YAY region lock!

I am not a huge Starcraft fan - I never owned the first one, but this does look like a good game. I will be buying it - though I may wait for the price to fall to closer to $40.

2.Please cite your reference for this. I have heard nothing about LAN support in the works. Note that, LAN support, by definition, cannot require the use of Battle.net because then the data is no longer confined to a local area network.

3.No it's 1/3rd of a game. Hence the definition of "three parts". Unless they are planning on giving us the other two race's campaigns for free.

4.Again, didn't buy MW2. And I'm more specifically talking about allowing players to charge for maps they create. So now, in order to play custom online games, I have to constantly deal with being nickle and dimed because every custom game will have some new map that I'm required to pay for.

5.No one's forcing you to play with someone overseas. All Blizzard had to do was add a matchmaking option for low pings.

1. You and 20 other people. It did, however, prove a successful price point for the developer, and you will see more games at that price point. The price will come down in time, and maybe your parents can raise your allowance if it is still too expensive then.

3. No, it has TWO FEWER LEVELS than the original. Not a third of a game... but if you have trouble counting, I'm done arguing that point.

4. Again, you and 20 other people didn't buy MW2. Blizzard is great at monetizing what they do and making it attractive to most people... WoW is the perfect example - people pay to play every month AND pay for add one expansions, too. Also keep in mind that by continuing to charge for map packs, Blizzard is also committing themselves to supporting the game over an extended period of time. That is good!

5. Yes, sometimes they are. If I get stuck in a lobby and am not the leader, but the leader's buddy and teammate is from Australia, I can either dump the game and wait in a new room for another game, or I can beg him to kick Mr. Australia. If I wanted to play against Europeans, I'd fly to Europe. I am tired of 400+ pings lagging my games.

I agree with all of those points but the 1/3rd of a game. From what I understand there are 2 less missions than the original so that doesn't really equal 33% of a game it's more like 94% of a game. I do think its a dumb they're splitting the races up into seperate expansions. I prefered the old method where they had about an equal number for each race on each expansion. I'll probably grab this when I see a price drop.